UPDATE: Lav Diaz’s The Woman Who Left scooped the Golden Lion at the 73rd Venice Film Festival tonight, while Tom Ford’s noir thriller Nocturnal Animals was triumphant in the director’s return to the Lido after 2009’s A Single Man. The best-reviewed film of the two weeks, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, danced its way to a Best Actress Volpi Cup for Emma Stone.

Spreading the wealth, Sam Mendes’ jury gave the screenwriting prize to Noah Oppenheim for Pablo Larrain’s raved-about Jackie, a study of Jackie Kennedy as played by Natalie Portman in the days after the assassination of John F Kennedy.

All told, this was a good night for films that have already entered the awards conversation and a somewhat more commercial band of winners than we’ve seen in recent years when Best Picture Oscar winners Spotlight and Birdman were overlooked here.

Filipino director Diaz’ drama, The Woman Who Left, is one of the less commercial propositions. It clocks in at 226 minutes and centers on a woman who has spent 30 years in prison. Wrongly convicted of the crime, she is released and settles into a new life after a friend admits to framing her. It’s inspired by a Tolstoy short, God Sees The Truth But Waits. Diaz’ A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery — at 485 minutes — won the Silver Bear in Berlin last year. Mendes said, “We’re here to encourage people to come to the cinema to see original films.”

PREVIOUS The awards ceremony for the Venice Film Festival 2016 is just getting started in the Sala Grande. The jury, led by Sam Mendes, has a rich roster of movies to choose from this year. Among the best reviewed have been Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, Pablo Larrain’s Jackie, Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival and Terrence Malick’s Voyage of Time.

Among the offshore titles that have played to acclaim are Argentine dramedy El Ciudadano Ilustre (The Distinguished Citizen) from Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat; and French pics Stephane Brizé’s Une Vie and François Ozon’s Frantz.

Venice juries can be fickle and sometimes the best reviewed movies leave the Lido empty-handed — as was the case recently with eventual Best Picture Oscar winners Spotlight and Birdman. But some are predicting this could be a big year here for Hollywood. We’ll know more in just a bit. The winners will be updated below as they are announced:

Lav Diaz’s Filipino drama The Woman Who Left scooped the highest prize given at the Venice Film Festival 2016, The Golden Lion, while Tom Ford’s second feature-length film, Nocturnal Animals, triumphed, taking the Grand Jury Prize.

Emma Stone took Best Actress for her role in La La Land, one of the best-reviewed films from the festival, leading to early Oscar buzz.

Meanwhile, the Natalie Portman-starring Jackie - a study of Jackie Kennedy that has also received rave reviews - won Best Screenplay.

The jury was overseen by Skyfall and Spectre director Sam Mandes, with notable absentees from the winners list including Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival and Terrence Malick’s Voyage of Time.

Philippines film The Woman Who Left, a black and white drama by director Lav Diaz, has won the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice Film Festival.

It tells the story of a schoolteacher's thirst for revenge and her feelings of forgiveness after 30 years in jail for a crime she did not commit.

Diaz said the film was a testimony to the struggles of the Philippines after centuries of colonial rule.

Twenty movies competed in the 73rd edition of the film festival.

"This is for my country, for the Filipino people, for our struggle, for the struggle of humanity. Thank you, thank you so much," the 57-year-old director said as he accepted the award.

The film, Ang Babaeng Humayo in Tagalog, has a running time of almost four hours.

Other awards included:

Grand jury prize for fashion designer Tom Ford for his thriller Nocturnal Animals
Best director shared between Russia's Andrei Konchalovsky for the Holocaust drama Paradise (Rai) and Mexico's Amat Escalante for The Untamed (La Region Salvaje)
Best actor to Argentina's Oscar Martinez for his role in the comedy-drama The Distinguished Citizen (El Ciudadano Ilustre)
Best actress to American Emma Stone for the musical La La Land
Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young performer to German actress Paula Beer for her role in post-war drama Frantz
Best screenplay to Noah Oppenheim for his work on Pablo Larrain's Jackie
Special jury prize to Ana Lily Amirpour's The Bad Batch